Getting Power Point slides into FCP without jaggies using DV format
by David See
on
Aug 13, 2009 at 9:38:19 pm
Hi all,
I shot a job recently in HD and in the editing process I had to bring in slides from the power point presentation into the timeline.
I exported the slides from within PP and then imported those JPG's into the timeline. All looked well on the canvas window after the render. Most slides are a white background with black text on it and some basic graphics.
I exported from the HD timeline to DVCPRO50 16:9 PAL (to keep the 16:9 aspect ratio - the only way I can successfully seem to do it) and then imported each file into DVKitchen for encoding to both Flash and WMV files 480 x 270 300kbps as per client request for their intranet.
The issue is that I have is that the text on the slides in the final compressed files is so jaggy that I can hardly read it. Well, I can read it, but it looks awful.
Is there a process that I could have used in the workflow that could have prevented this?
Re: Getting Power Point slides into FCP without jaggies using DV format by Ken Jones on Aug 14, 2009 at 3:39:22 am
I export the slides as large TIFFs. I then drop the TIFFs into After Effects and scale them down to a size that will keep everything in title safe. I add an adjustment layer and use a tiny bit of gaussian blur and also adjust levels (the whites need to be reduced). I then render to whatever codec I am using in my sequence.
Re: Getting Power Point slides into FCP without jaggies using DV format by John Fishback on Aug 14, 2009 at 2:02:49 pm
I've found exporting PNGs gives me the best results. I scale and/or distort in FCP. I just did this with excellent results. Make sure your render settings in Seq Settings is set to best.
John
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Re: Getting Power Point slides into FCP without jaggies using DV format by Ken Jones on Aug 14, 2009 at 3:02:23 pm
The reason I scale down in AE is because I export the slides from PPT as 1000 X 750 pixel TIFFs. This is the size I use for a standard definition composition (D1 - 720 X 486). The larger TIFF size allows me to zoom into an area of interest on the slide in AE.
I have tried it both ways - straight into FCP and AE. I find I get cleaner results and more control using AE. My topmost layer in AE is an Adjustment Layer that has "Levels" to lower the luminance to about 95 IRE and "Gaussian Blur" set somewhere between .3-.5. These adjustments help tremendously.
Most PPT files I am given have the lines reveal one at a time. I use a blank slide and mask it in AE to reveal each line. Each line is given a ten second duration in my AE composition. For a long PPT presentation my rendered movie might be 25-30 minutes in duration.
